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Happy Birthday, H.P. Lovecraft!

Posted by WJWalton
on Thu 20 of Aug., 2009 11:49 PDT

Today is the 129th birthday of Howard Phillips Lovecraft, a horror author from the pulp era whose classic stories include The Call of Cthulhu, The Dunwich Horror, The Shadow over Innsmouth, and At the Mountains of Madness. Most of his stories contained themes of bleak, helpless horror, inflicted by vast interstellar beings who viewed humanity as little more than insects, or even less.

Lovecraft lived long before the concept of role-playing games came along, but it's pretty likely that he would have enjoyed other people playing in his sandbox. After all, he did encourage a close following of aspiring writers who penned many stories based on his characters, locations, and slimy, squamous horrors.

Some time ago, I received a gift in the mail from the UK - a DVD-ROM entitled Lovecraftian Tales from the Table. It's a collection of files related to the Call of Cthulhu RPG, which is based on Lovecraft's works (and one of my personal favorites.) There are interviews with the game designers, a quickstart version of the game rules and character sheets in PDF, prop documents to print out and use for your game, and much more.

But the crowing piece of this collection are the "audio games," hours of MP3s of people playing two of the longest CoC campaigns ever published - Horror on the Orient Express and Masks of Nyarlathotep. I haven't had a chance to listen or enjoy any of the disc yet (my antique PC doesn't have a DVD drive), but I'm really looking forward to it, and I'd love to see other RPG fans do similar projects for the games that they love.

I can't help but wonder what ol' H.P. himself would think about what has become of his creation. Hopefully, he would approve.

Shooter who blamed D&D group gets insanity plea

A Georgia woman who shot a co-worker and blamed the act on "Dungeons & Dragons enthusiasts" has been deemed mentally unfit for trial.

Carol Marie Clark also blames the death of her brother Verner on D&D gamers, but police have determined that it was a suicide.

An Emory University psychiatrist who interviewed Clark determined she exhibited symptoms of paranoia and schizophrenia. "She presents a substantial risk of imminent harm to others," one examiner wrote.

It's a sad story of someone who truly has lost touch with reality. Thankfully, her victim is expected to recover. Here's hoping that Clark can get the help that she needs.

Another RPG geek celeb: filmmaker Paul Weitz

Posted by WJWalton
on Wed 19 of Aug., 2009 08:07 PDT

Speaking of movies - Paul Weitz, producer of The Golden Compass and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, director of American Pie and the upcoming Cirque du Freak movie, just confessed to being a D&D geek in two recent articles on UGO and IGN:

"Reilly, a genre fan who grew up on Lord of the Rings and Dungeons and Dragons, realized how important it was to embrace the source material." - IGN

"You know, I've worked on movies in the past that are based on books and I usually say...we're shooting the script. We're not shooting the book. But I felt like, well, I was a big Tolkein fan as a kid, and I played Dungeons and Dragons, and I know how important the screen adaptations of those were to me when I was a kid..." - UGO

(EDIT: Forgot to mention - according to his IMDB listing, he appears to be involved in an "untitled Elric saga project"!)

Utah man on trial for hammer attack after D&D game

Posted by WJWalton
on Tue 18 of Aug., 2009 06:09 PDT

Zachary King is currently on trial for breaking into the home of two men and attacking them with a hammer as they slept. King returned to their home after playing Dungeons & Dragons with the two men earlier in the day, entered through an open window, and attacked both men in their beds. Both survived the attacks, and are expected to recover.

Remarkably, the coverage of the story has not tried to implicate the game for the crime. The Salt Lake Tribune [article | archive] mentions that "...a motive for the attacks may have grown from the trio playing the fantasy role-playing game...", but clarifies that one of the victims "was directing the game as Dungeon Master, and King didn't like what he was doing with King's character." It also mentions that "...King had an issue with Bryson (the other victim) for dating a girl after both said they would not date her."

Certainly, neither of these are justification for such a horrible attack. I only mention it to point out the definite lack of the old anti-gaming rhetoric, such as "Murder attempt may be connected to controversial game."

The Spectrum [article | archive] gives the same kind of coverage, but supplies a little more detail on the motive. King was jealous of one victim for his wealth and writing ability (particularly his plans to publish D&D material), and jealous of the other because he went back on his word and dated a woman that both of them were interested in.

No sensationalism, just facts. Which is the way it should have been all along.

Former gamer becomes GA Supreme Court justice

But it seems that David Nahmias isn't entirely comfortable with his geeky past.

Nahmias was also a great fan of that classic late ’70s/early ’80s pastime of geeky young men everywhere — Dungeons and Dragons. (When asked about it, Nahmias’ replied, “Yeah, but I did also play on the varsity soccer team.”)

D&D used as a weapon in a child custody case

Posted by WJWalton
on Sat 15 of Aug., 2009 19:07 PDT

Forum user Hemlock posted this in the Advocacy forum yesterday:

Well To make a long story shorter my brother is involved in a custody hearing for his son. Dungeons and Dragons has been brought up in a very bad way trying to link it to his religion (not a bad one but not christian) and find him unfit. Basically is there any help out there for this. I really don't beleive his lawyer is qualified enough in this area to help. A psychologist has been called in to testify and he must really hate the game. I also have a feeling it is going to get worse. But as this is a semi-informal hearing it is an anything goes thing. (And from what I am hearing it really will be) Thanks for reading.

Sadly, this isn't the first time I've heard of D&D or other RPGs being used as ammunition in a child custody case.

I've given him all of the advice I can muster, plus a little that some of my friends have suggested. This includes giving links to studies on RPGs and Christian roleplaying clubs to the defense lawyer, and contacting the ACLU and Paul Cardwell from the CAR-PGa.

I've also offered to post his story here, to make it a bit more public, gather some more advice, and to pass it along to him. So if you have any legal experience, or even some good advice, and would like to help, please contact me and I'll pass it along.

Wanted: MORE pictures of your roleplaying groups!

You may remember a couple of months ago, when I requested pictures of your gaming group to post here on the site.

The idea came to me when someone emailed me and suggested that I post pictures of roleplayers in their element, enjoying a game with their friends and family, to put a positive face on the hobby.

Since then, I've gotten four fantastic responses - from Missouri and Oklahoma, Australia and Iraq.

I've posted them on the various FAQ pages for everyone to see while they're getting their frequently asked questions answered.

I'm thrilled with the quality, but the quantity... not so much.

I want more!

So send me pictures of your RPG or LARP group playing a game! Be sure to let me know the names of everyone playing, who is GMing, what game you're playing, and where you're from

I'll post more of them on the FAQ pages, and I'm also hoping to create some sort of feature on the main page - maybe something that displays a different pic and info each day. For that. I'll need a LOT of submissions, to keep it interesting.

If you don't see yourself and your group here, that means you haven't sent yours to me yet.

Gygax memorial attracts a lot of support

Posted by WJWalton
on Tue 04 of Aug., 2009 08:00 PDT

A memorial to Gary Gygax may be in the works very soon, according to the Janesville Gazette:

Gygax's wife, Gail, and his children want the local gaming giant to be remembered for his immeasurable contribution by erecting a memorial statue of him in his hometown.
...
Gail is working with a local attorney to form a corporation to begin raising money for the project. She also is planning a fundraiser to be held during Gen Con in 2010.

At that time, some of her husband's personal items, including original manuscripts, will be auctioned off.

She said big names in the gaming, computer and film industries already have contacted her with interest in supporting the project.

She said local businesspeople likely will join the ranks, too.

If approved, the statue may be erected in Library Park, where Gygax spent a lot of time reading and writing.

It's great to see this kind of support from computer and film companies. That's a wonderful recognition of Gygax's contribution to creativity and imagination.

New on the site: Finding Games and Gamers, comments, and forums!

Posted by WJWalton
on Wed 29 of July, 2009 17:17 PDT

Here are some new additions to the site:

I've added a new Resources page - Finding Games and Gamers, a list of sites that can help roleplayers network with each other and find game stores and clubs in their area. (If you know of some that I have missed, be sure to contact me and let me know about them!)

Comments have been available on the blog posts for a little while now, but I've waited to go public with them until I was fairly sure I had them configured the way I liked. If you'd like to be part of the discussion, read the posting rules, then sign up and post! (Due to a substantial amount of phony signups, you'll have to wait for approval from me after you sign up, so please be patient.)

Speaking of discussions, I'm also ready to open up the Forums. They're not anything grand - I like to think of them as 'cozy' - but they'll suit the purposes of the site well enough. Head on over to theescapist.com/forums and join the discussion, or start a new one!

People STILL play that game...?

Posted by WJWalton
on Tue 28 of July, 2009 10:10 PDT

Every so often, I'll spot an article, editorial, or review that makes a comment similar to this one -

Most of the time, tech culture slowly seeps in, wafting from the dark, damp corners where the geeks play their Dungeons and Dragons (and they still do this, by the way, even with all the fancy technology and worldwide communication gadgetry, there’s still dudes in basements rolling dice and eating way too many pizza rolls)...

I usually just pass them by without giving it a second thought. I realize that some of it is made in jest and the rest is just ignorance, but it happens so often that it makes me wonder - Why should it come as a surprise to anyone that people still play Dungeons & Dragons?

Is it because many people consider it a passing fad from the 80s? Or were we supposed to chuck our Monster Manual into the nearest recycling bin once we laid our eyes on World of Warcraft?

The fact is, like any other game, many players still desire the face-to-face presence of others, the feel of cards or playing pieces in our hands, and the sound of rattling dice. The fact is, the game was a decade old at it's heyday in the mid 80s, and never really lost all of its devoted fans.

The fact is, people love to play games no matter how long they've been around.

I've drawn up a handy visual aid to help illustrate the point. Feel free to direct anyone to this chart whenever they ask "Do people really still play Dungeons & Dragons?" You may even want to suggest that they replace D&D with any of the other games listed below, just to demonstrate how silly it sounds.

The ENnies - Six days of voting left!

Posted by WJWalton
on Mon 27 of July, 2009 14:27 PDT

I'm sure you're as upset as I am that The Escapist missed getting an ENnie nomination this year, but that shouldn't discourage you from voting for the best RPGs, supplements, artwork, accessories, websites, and podcasts of the year. So get out there and vote!

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PLEASE NOTE: Due to an excessive level of spam accounts being created, I have disabled automatic account creation. If you would like to create an account to post to the blog, forums, or wiki, please contact me with your desired username, and I will create one for you. I apologize for the inconvenience.